Welcome to my blog—an eyes-open, no holds barred exploration of Western and Eastern spirituality, mindfulness, philosophy and literature. A member of the Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association, I lectured at the NSW Institute of Psychiatry (now the Health Education and Training Institute) to mental health workers for 14 years and at the University of Technology, Sydney to law students for 16 years. My interests include metaphysics, mythology and addiction recovery.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Epictetus
(c55--135 CE) [pictured left as well as below left], who was born in Hierapolis in Phrygia (modern-day Turkey), was aGreeksageandStoicphilosopher of some renown. He was one of the last of the Stoics---even though he adhered very closely to the early Stoic tradition---and he was possibly the greatest of them all.When only a boy he was made a slave in Rome, banished by the Roman emperor Domitian, but he managed to study under the
great Roman stoic teacher Musonius Rufus. After being freed---we are not sure when or why that occurred---he went to
Greece, to a little town in Epirus, where he opened his own school of philosophy.

It seems that Epictetus
wrote nothing himself, and we are indebted to one of his students, Flavius Arrian,
for committing to writing the Encheiridion (‘Manual’), the work that represent
Epictetus’ teachings, being lecture transcriptions of Epictetus. Sadly, most of
Arrian’s writings, including those that purport to record the philosophy of
Epictetus, are no longer extant. What is of interest is that the Encheiridion was much used in the Middle Ages as a guide to the
principles of the Christian monastic life.

Now, Epictetus was not a mere theoretician or speculative
philosopher, for he saw and wrote about things-as-they-really-are.
As Epictetus rightly saw it, life is ever so often harsh and cruel, and there
is much that happens to us that we have not actively or even passively brought
about. Acceptance, he said, is the answer to all our
problems and difficulties. As the Indian spiritual philosopher J. Krishnamurti
would often say, ‘In the acknowledgment of what is, there is the cessation of
all conflict.’ Not only the cessation of conflict, but serenity, peace of mind,
and freedom. Epictetus expressed it this way:

Happiness and freedom begin with a clear
understanding of one principle: some things are within our control, and some
things are not.

Epictetus' idea of acceptance is well-expressed in this statement attributed to him: 'I do not obey God, I agree with Him.' In other words, we must accept things-as-they-really-are. One of the most important things to learn in life
is this---events, in particular things that happen, are, in and of themselves,
impersonal. They do not happen to us.
They simply happen. Yes, we must take responsibility for making an appropriate
response to events for which we are
responsible, but we are not responsible for the actions or opinions of others.
Events don’t, or shouldn’t, hurt us. It is our perceptions of those events that
hurts us. In that regard, Epictetus wrote, ‘We are not disturbed by things, but
by the view we take of them,’ and ‘It’s not what happens to you, but how you
react to it that matters.’ He went even further, saying:

Does
the tyrant say he will throw me into prison? He cannot imprison my spirit. Does
he say that he will put me to death? He can only cut off my head.

Epictetus wrote much on the right disposition of the will---the will to live, the will to survive, the will to overcome, and the will to be happy. Will is the ability, that is, the power, to make a decision, and then do what is necessary to see things through, but no more power than that is required for the task. Will, and not so-called 'will power,' is the way to go. We must, however, learn to properly control our will, and use it wisely, if we wish to be masters of our own fate. Then there’s this gem of Epictetus, which says
much about the nature and ‘purpose’ of both philosophy and life itself: ‘The
essence of philosophy is that we should so live that our happiness shall depend
as little as possible on external things.’ Yes, Epictetus was an early
apologist for living simply. One other thing---he never speculated on life after death; indeed he never dealt directly with the subject at all.

Here’s another wonderful thing about the man. He
understood the power and workings of the human mind in a way that was very much
ahead of his time. He wrote: ‘In all people, thought and action start from a
single source, namely feeling.’ In saying that, Epictetus showed that he had
more than a little understanding of the workings of the subconscious mind. You
see, thought must be backed up by feeling for it to have any power. Thought and
feeling blend together in forming conviction.
Without conviction no thought (eg ideal, hope) can take hold in the
subconscious mind, and it is only when the subconscious mind accepts one’s thought
is there any chance of its actualization. Epictetus was an early exponent of
self-image psychology and creative visualization. He wrote: ‘First say to
yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.’

Epictetus also saw the inter-connectedness and
interdependence of all things whilst resisting an overall monism. He also held
that, despite our preconceptions (prolepsis) of good and
evil, there was only one ultimate
Power (‘God’) and that Power was All-Good and very near to us. Yes, the Power can be used by us and
others for purposes that are eitherrelative
good or relative bad, but unity, not duality, is the name of the game. Unhappiness
is due to opinions and beliefs that we hold---preconceptions that not only stand in objective contradiction to things-as-they-really-are but also
prevent us from seeing things-as-they-really-are.
Happiness comes from a mindful acceptance of things-as-they-really-are. And difficulties? Well, they are things
‘that show a person what they are.’ Further, ‘you are not free unless you are
master of yourself.’ On the subject of what we now call mindfulness Epictetus
wrote:

Open your eyes: see
things for what they really are, thereby sparing yourself the pain of false
attachments and avoidable devastation.

Over
the years many writers and commentators have remarked upon the similarities
between Stoicism and Buddhism. Both systems of thought espouse the view that
pain and suffering are largely the result of attachment and not seeing
things-as-they-really-are. Both systems of thought stress the importance of
acceptance and non-resistance. Both systems of thought assert that happiness
and freedom are attainable---even in a most imperfect and often harsh world
that is not entirely or even substantially of our own making.

Epictetus
was also an early apologist for the art and science and practice of
mindfulness. What does he say on the matter? Here's this gem, which reminds me of the Buddha's advice, 'When you walk, just walk, when you eat, just eat, when you sleep, just sleep, and when you sit, just sit,' and St Paul's 'This one thing I do' (Phil 3:13):

When you are going about any action, remind yourself what
nature the action is. If you are going to bathe, picture to yourself the things
which usually happen in the bath: some people splash the water, some push, some
use abusive language, and others steal. Thus you will more safely go about this
action if you say to yourself, ‘I will now go bathe, and keep my own mind in a
state conformable to nature.’ And in the same manner with regard to every other
action. For thus, if any hindrance arises in bathing, you will have it ready to
say, ‘It was not only to bathe that I desired, but to keep my mind in a state
conformable to nature; and I will not keep it if I am bothered at things that
happen.

'Open your eyes: see things for
what they really are,' says Epictetus. The result? You are then spared the pain of false
attachments and avoidable devastation. False attachments take many forms,
perhaps the worst being beliefs, misbeliefs, and delusions. We are in direct and immediate contact with what is real, but beliefs, misbeliefs, and
delusions distort reality and obstruct our moment-to-moment experience and
awareness of reality. That is why I rail against all the traditional religious
belief systems, especially those of the three great (or not-so-great) monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, at least in their conventional, exoteric forms. Buddhism, at
least in its early forms---still found in many parts of the world today---is
not a belief system; indeed the historical Buddha also railed against beliefs, asserting that there was
nothing to believe.

Open
your eyes. See things for what they really are. Know. Understand. But don’t
believe.

P.S. This is my 250th post on this blogsite. Heartiest thanks to my many loyal readers. IEJ.

The Scottish-Australian philosopher John Anderson wrote of Heraclitus’ ‘wide awake approach to problems’, by which he
meant that Heraclitus adopted and advocated a rigorously empirical and logical methodology in the pursuit of truth (that is, reality, or what is).Heraclitus was known as the ‘flux and fire’ philosopher. He wrote, ‘All
things are flowing’, ‘There is nothing permanent except change,’ ‘No person ever steps in the same river
twice, for it's not the same river and they're not the same person,’ and ‘The sun
is new each day.’

Heraclitus also famously said, ‘Let
us not conjecture at random about the greatest things. We must follow the
common.’ In other words, if we would know the conditions of existence we must look for that which
is ‘common’ to all things. This means, among other things, that we should
reject supernatural, occult and all other unobservable explanations of the
otherwise observable conditions of existence. ‘The things that can be seen,
heard and learned are what I prize most,’ he writes. Indeed, Heraclitus
eschewed all notions of the occult and the supernatural. He wrote, ‘this world
[or world-order] did none of the gods or humans make; but it always was and is
and shall be: an ever-living fire, kindling in measures and going out in
measures.’ Note, especially, those words 'was and is and shall be.' The world is, was, and ever will be what is is now. There is only the now. That is why it is often referred to as being the 'eternal now.' That is the logos of Heraclitus. And what of time? 'Time is a child playing draughts; the kingdom is a child's.'

Such is the cosmology of
Heraclitus and the other exalted thinkers of his day. How ancient, and yet how
very modern! Everything---and I mean literally every
thing---is in a constant state of flux. ‘A thing rests by changing,’ he wrote. ‘Everything
flows and nothing abides, everything yields and nothing remains permanent.’ Whatever lives does so by the destruction of something else. Things
wax and wane, and come and go. We, too. We come, and in a very short time we
vanish from view. We go. Only life
itself, in the form of change and the eternal now, remains. In the words of Heraclitus, 'all things are steered through all things.'

Here’s
another gem from Heraclitus in the form of some not-so-new New Thought. It
highlights the importance of keeping your thoughts pure and noble, for as you
think so you are:

The soul is
dyed the colour of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line
with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your
character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your
integrity is your destiny---it is the light that guides your way.

Heraclitus
also wrote that most people are ‘asleep,’ so to speak. Even in their waking
moments most people are far from ‘awake,’ that is, mindfulness. Yes, many
people ‘live’ their whole lives that way. One may as well be dead. There is
little difference between the two states. Here’s what Heraclitus wrote:

Men
are as forgetful and heedless

in
their waking moments

of
what is going on around them

as
they are during their sleep.

Fools,
although they hear,

are
like deaf;

to
them the adage applies

that
whenever they are present

they
are absent.

One
should not act or speak

as
if he were asleep.

The
waking have one world in common;

sleepers
have each a private world of his own.

Whatever
we see when awake is death,

when
asleep, dreams.

How true all
that is! All too often we go through the day ‘forgetful’ and ‘heedless,’
unaware of what is happening and going on around us. It is as if we were
asleep---or worse, dead. Heraclitus calls such people ‘fools,’ for ‘whenever
you are present / you are absent.’ In truth, we can hardly be said to be
‘present,’ for that requires an awareness
of awareness---that is, an awareness or mindfulness of the content of one’s
consciousness from one moment to the next. Here's some more good advice from Heraclitus on the subject of mindfulness, which Heraclitus refers to as the 'ground of being' ('God' according to the 20th century Christian existentialist theologian Paul Tillich):Since
mindfulness, of all things,

is the
ground of being,to
speak one's true mind,and to
keep things knownin
common, serves all being,just
as laws made clearuphold
the city,yet
with greater strength.Of all
pronouncements of the lawthe
one source is the Wordwhereby
we choose what helpstrue
mindfulness prevail.

When we do not practise
mindfulness in our daily lives we are, ‘whatever we see when awake is death,’
writes Heraclitus. Yes, death! Because whatever was the action---internal or
external---of the then present but now gone moment has died on us. Yes, died on
us. It is like watching a motion picture film; the picture is moving, but what
is being screened is not happening now. It’s in the past.

Heraclitus also wrote
that we do not
learn what we should, largely because we go through life mindlessly. ‘Many do
not understand such things as they encounter, nor do they learn by their
experience, but they think they do.’ So, how are we to learn? Certainly not
from books. ‘Knowing many things doesn’t teach insight,’ wrote Heraclitus.
Insight comes only from awareness and
observation---that is, mindfulness. That’s why it’s called ‘insight
meditation.’ Heraclitus also urged people to ‘look within,’ saying, ‘I searched
into myself,’ and ‘Those who love wisdom must investigate many things.’

Don’t
spend your whole life as if you were asleep---or dead. Wake up! Live with awareness.
Live with attention. Watch. Observe. Learn by your experience. Live!

I
have had a long and happy association with the metaphysical churches, including
Unity and Religious Science. Although I never joined it, I have also attended
many services at Christian Science churches. As a spiritual psychologist, I use
many of the ideas, teachings, and practices of these churches not only in my
own life but also when counselling others. In recent years, many of these very same ideas, teachings, and practices have found their way---or way back---into more mainstream, if Pentecostal, forms of Christianity, including the Word of Faith movement. I am thinking of the writings of people such as Charles Capps.

Deep down, though, I am ever the skeptic, always aware of the dangers of magical thinking. When asked about Christian Science, in particular, I often joke and
say, ‘It works well---when you’re not sick. It doesn’t work so well when you’re
sick.’ I also happen to think that spiritual mind treatment works better for
mental and psychological conditions than for physical ones, but as the latter are
so often the result of psychological maladjustment there is in principle no
reason why spiritual mind treatment should not work for all types of conditions
and dysfunction of both mind and body.

So,
I say this---spiritual mind treatment and healing can work wonders, especially in assisting you to stay well, happy,
vibrant and alive. It's much easier to stay healthy and vibrant than to regain healthy and vitality when you have lost them through neglect or other means. If, at the end of the day, it all be no more than ‘mind over matter,’ or no better than placebo, then we are still dealing with a formidable power---and I happen to think that there is a lot more involved than just mind
over matter.

Here
are some verses from the Bible which encapsulate some important metaphysical
and psychological principles for spiritual mind treatment and healing---ideas
and teachings that you can use for good in your own life.

‘Seek first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’(Mt 6:33)

The
‘kingdom of God’ is within you (Lk 17:21) ---within your own mind. Jesus used the words 'kingdom' and 'life' interchangeably. To him, they were one and same. The 'kingdom' is life---abundant life (cf Jn 10:10)---and life renewed, regenerated, resurrected, and redeemed. 'The eternal God is your dwelling-place' (Deut 33:27). This is, of course, metaphorical language. God is the self-existent and self-sufficient eternal now, the omnipresence of life, and, most especially, the power of your own mind. ‘It is the
Father’s [Divine Mind] good pleasure to give you the kingdom’ (Lk 12:32). In other words, it is your divine birthright. You already have within you---within your mind, that is---everything you will ever need to be happy, healthy, vital, whole, and alive.'Righteousness,’
metaphysically interpreted, refers to right-thinking, and the right use of
one’s mind and thoughts. 'We become what we habitually contemplate,' wrote George Russell. 'The future is your present thoughts grown up,' wrote Divine Science minister, lecturer, and author Dr Joseph Murphy. Thought power is always creative---for better or for
worse---according to the nature, emotion, impulse, and conviction behind the
thought. And what is 'thinking'? Well, the great Plato put it this way: 'Thinking is the talking of the soul with itself.' I like that.

‘You shall decree a
thing, and it shall be established for you’ (Job 22:28)

‘There
is no power but of God’ (Rom 13:1), ‘God’ being the ‘all in all’ (1 Cor 15:28),
or the action of Mind (infinite Intelligence) upon Itself. 'I AM God and there is none else beside me' (Is 45:5). Thus, God is all there is, and thus all that we are. 'God thinks only one Word---Himself,' wrote the great Catholic archbishop Fulton J Sheen. 'Everything that exists is the realization and concretion of an idea existing in the Mind of God from all eternity. ... Every bird, every flower, every tree, has been made according to an idea existing in the Mind of God from all eternity.' Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore expressed it this way: 'God is the silent voice that speaks into visibility all the life there is.'

The power to change
your life for the better lies in your own mind, and in the proper use of that
mind and your thoughts. ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Prov
18:21). 'For as you think in your heart [that is, mind], so are you' (Prov 23:7). Thought is the real causative force in life. Indeed, everything owes its existence to an original act of pure, creative thought. Further, that to which we give our attention grows. 'To think is to create,' wrote the founder of Religious Science, Dr Ernest Holmes [pictured left]. 'Thought is the seed of action,' wrote the great Ralph Waldo Emerson. 'The ancestor of every action is a thought.'

One theory is that thought creates a 'mold' in the unconscious mind, into which your thought or idea is 'poured' and then accepted. Then, certain forces are set in motion in accordance with your thought or idea. In the Dhammapada, that great collection of sayings of the historical Buddha, we read this: 'All that we are is the result of what we have thought.' Then there's this gem, also from the Buddha: 'The mind is everything; what you think you become.' The Bible expresses it this way: 'As you sow, so shall you reap' (Gal 6:7). Never forget that.You would all have heard of the law of cause and effect---that is, all things ('effects') are caused, and are themselves causes of further effects. Metaphysically, we are always becoming cause to our own effects. Also, different kinds of conditions can be expected to have different effects. Finally, things arise dependent on conditions and cease when those conditions cease. A single logic applies to all things, and to how they are related to each other.Now, although there will always be some things you cannot ‘decree,’ there
are many positive things you can ‘decree’ for yourself and others, and if you
are prepared to ‘work’ (mentally and otherwise) for those things, then they may
well be ‘established for you.’ There are many Bible verses on this theme, including
this one: ‘Let the weak say, “I am strong”’ (Joel 3:10). The last mentioned
verse encapsulates the nature and technique of affirmative prayer, the aim of which is always the same---to lift one's consciousness to the level of the answer, for the solution is already complete in God-Mind.

‘But the word is very
near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it’(Deut 30:14)

Your
own ‘word’---spoken and deeply held thought---is creative. The Bible says, 'what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart [that is, mind]' (Mt 15:18). A word is simply a spoken or articulated thought. Everything---I mean, every thing---starts with a thought in the mind. According to the Bible, God spoke all things into existence, but first these things began as thoughts in the eternal Mind of God. 'The world is the outpicturing of human thought,' wrote the well-known Divine Science minister, lecturer and author Dr Emmet Fox. 'Your life is conditioned by your own thoughts, not by the thoughts of anyone else. ... You can only express in experience your own true sense of what you really are.' So, let your word go forth, for it shall not return to you empty (cf Is 55:11).That is the power of creation in the macrocosm. The rationale behind all spiritual mind treatment is this---that very same creative power is also available to each one of us in the microcosm. Why? Because the macrocosm and the microcosm are, in truth, one. But where, you may ask, do we 'go' to find and access that power? In our own individual minds, of course. There is no place else. Many philosophers postulate that all individual minds are simply an incarnation, expression, and agent of the One Absolute Mind. This is what Jesus really meant when he said, 'I and my Father are one' (Jn 10:30). It is a reference to the indwelling presence known as 'Our Father which art in heaven' (Mt 6:9). Now, even if our individual minds are not part or agents of one great Mind---I have an open mind on the matter---the fact remains that thought is creative according to the nature, emotion, impulse, and conviction behind the thought. 'All actions, good or bad, start with a thought,' wrote the much-loved minister and author Dr Norman Vincent Peale. 'We draw to ourselves exactly what we are.'So, give voice to your
desire, hope, or goal, and then ‘hold’ your desire, hope, or goal deeply in
your mind (‘heart”). Here’s another relevantly applicable Bible verse: ‘It is
true unto me according to the Word of God’ (Ps 119:25).

‘He sent forth his
word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions’(Ps 107:20)

Like
Jesus, send forth your word. ‘All power is given unto me [that means you] in heaven and on earth’ (Mt 28:18).
Your word (‘thought’) must, however, be backed up by both conviction and feeling.
Your creative thought needs to be emotionalized---that is, both felt and
believed---before it can be accepted by your mind and later come forth as the
answer or solution to your ‘prayer.’ ‘Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in
the soil and dies, it remains alone’ (Jn 12:24). 'It shall be done unto you as you believe' (Mt 9:29). 'As you believe, so is it done unto you' (Mt 8:13). In addition, there must be a state of expectancy in your mind: 'Whatever you ask in prayer [that refers to your desire or wish], believe that you receive it, and you will' (Mk 11:24). Dr Joseph Murphy put it this way: 'Whatever you think, feel and believe to be true, your subconscious mind will bring to pass---good or bad.'One other important thing---your
conscious and subconscious mind need to be in unison for anything positive to
happen. That is the real, inner meaning of the Bible verse, ‘If two of you
agree about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven’
(Mt 18:19). The reference to ‘two of you’ refer to your conscious and
subconscious mind. When they agree, the creative power (Father ‘in heaven,’ or
‘within’) is then able to bring your desire to pass.

‘And I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me’(Jn 12:32)

Your
‘I’ is your inner centre of awareness---your core-self. ‘Earth,’ metaphysically
interpreted, refers to your present, perhaps limited, state of consciousness,
and present lack. It is the realm of all things worldly, physical, and
temporal. ‘Heaven’ is the realm of perfect and spiritual ideas (eg perfect
health and vitality, true joy, peace, serenity, and abundance)---a ‘kingdom’ not
of this world’ (Jn 18:36). These spiritual (that is, non-material) ideas---a
veritable ‘table of plenty’---are implanted in your DNA and are part and parcel
of your phylogenetic heritage. For example, you could never
be healthy unless there were the perfect idea (or 'form') of health built into you---into
every cell, tissue, and organ of your mind and body. It’s as simple as that.
This truth is common to all of the world’s major religions and religious
philosophies. For example, Swami Vivekananda [pictured above left], whose
teachings have greatly impacted my own life, said, ‘Vedanta not only insists
that the ideal is practical, but that it has been so all the time; and this
ideal, this Reality, is our own nature.’

So, in the words of the great Plato, 'take charge of your thoughts; you can do what you will with them.' Lift up your ‘I’ from the
earth, that is, from everything that is holding you back in your life. Then, if
you do what is necessary to bring it to pass, you will ‘draw all men’ [that is,
thoughts and aspirations] unto you. Here’s another important Bible verse: ‘Yet
a little while I am with you, and then I go unto him that send me’ (Jn 7:33).
Stay with your condition (the mental state of lack, limitation, etc) for only
‘a little while,’ then ascend in consciousness to the ‘Father within,’ more
particularly, the perfect spiritual image of what you seek to create.
Concentrate upon, and contemplate, whatever it is you seek (eg perfect health,
freedom from the bondage of addiction, etc).

‘He calls those things which are
not as though they were’ (Rom 4:17)

This
Bible verse encapsulates the essence and technique of all spiritual mind treatment.
You treat the spiritual man or woman. You see things as you would like them to
be, for, in truth, those things already exist, in you, as perfect ideas
implanted in your DNA and your phylogenetic heritage. All you need
to do, metaphysically, is to achieve, by inducing in yourself, a greater
capacity to recognize the present existence of what you seek. The Christian preacher and teacher Charles Capps makes this very important point in his little book God's Creative Power for Healing: 'This is God's method of calling things that are not as though they were until they are. There are some who have misunderstood this principle, and they call things that are, as though they are not. In other words, they deny what exists. The power is in calling for healing and health by mixing faith with God's Word.' [Emphasis in the original]

The Bible recognizes that there is, implanted in our DNA, a blueprint for every part of our body and mind: ‘My substance was not hid from you, when I was made in
secret, and consciously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes did
see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in your book all my members were
written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them’ (Ps 139:15-16). In other words, the infinite Intelligence that created
you, according to a spiritual ‘blueprint,’ and fashioned all your cells,
tissues, and organs, according to the detail of that blueprint, indwells every
part of you, and is therefore capable of refashioning those cells, tissues, and
organs when they become damaged, injured, or diseased in any way. ‘The Spirit
of God has made you, and the breath of the Almighty gives you life’ (Job 33:4). So, 'attend to my words ... they are life ... and health [that is, medicine] to all their flesh' (Prov 4:20-22).

Now, whether treating yourself or
others, the technique is the same---you do not deal with the material or
physical man or woman, rather you say (speak the word) that the spiritual
person is perfect, healthy, and whole. You envision that state of affairs---seeing yourself as you would like to be---for in truth what is sought
and conceived is always available, and presently existing, in and through the perfect
‘forms’ that were instantiated in you when you were in the womb, and through
the power of creative consciousness. To a very large extent, what you 'see' is what you'll be. Here's another Bible verse that sets out this wonderful technique for spiritual mind treatment: 'Every valley [any state of lack, limitation, etc] shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill [any obstacle] shall be made low, and the crooked [any entanglement, disorder, or other difficulty] shall be made straight, and the rough plains [difficult, hard times] smooth' (Is 40:4). Again, it's calling things that are not as though they were---until they are.

'Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up' (Mt 15:13)

Spiritual mind treatment proceeds as follows. As God is life and all there is, and that life is our life right now, there is therefore no place for anything unlike God. Thus, there is no place for anything that is foreign to God, or in objective contradiction to God (eg illness, lack, and limitation of all kinds). In spiritual mind treatment we affirm that everything that contradicts God is passing from us and at the same time we reject opposite and fallacious assertions. We are the 'image of God' (Gen 1:27), and the activity of God-ness is the activity in each of us---right now. Therefore, what is true of God is also true of us---right now. In short, illness, lack, and limitation are 'plants' that the 'heavenly Father' (Life perceived as an indwelling Presence) has not planted, so let all such plants be uprooted---right now! In the words of Swami Vivekananda: 'The greatest sin is to think yourself weak. No one is stronger. ... Deny evil, create none. Stand up and say, "I am the master---the master of all."'

‘Thou art of
purer eyes than tobehold evil, and canst not look on
iniquity’ (Hab 1:13). In traditionalevangelicalChristianityit is said
thatJesusChrist, by his death and resurrection, conquered sin and bought for
us a ‘robe of righteousness,’ such that, although we are all said to be dead in
sins, if we repent and accept Jesus as saviour and lord,Godthen sees us clothed in a robe of
righteousness. We wear this robe, and God sees us so robed. Another
interpretation of the foregoing is that when God looks at the person (you or
me), God sees only Christ (God’s Son) in all his perfection, Christ himself
being the robe of God’s own righteousness.

What all this means, metaphysically, is quite simple---we need to see ourselves as God’s perfect son or daughter, clothed in a robe of right-thinking,
health, and wholeness. The truth is, there are always two ‘images’ of
ourselves. One image is of us as wepresently are, in all our imperfection, and the other
image is of us as wecouldbe, or as we wouldlike to be. Now, if we want to change for the
better, we need to envision ourselves as we would like to be---indeed, as we are in Truth. If, for example,
we are sick in some way, or in bondage to some condition or state of
consciousness, we should see ourselves as healthy or as free, as the case may
be, for, in the words of the old Oriental maxim, ‘what we think upon grows.’

'Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom [table of plenty] prepared for you
from the foundation of the world’ (Mt 25:34).

Friday, September 13, 2013

Fairy tales are a
sub-genre of the artistic and literary genre known as ‘fantasy,’ the latter
being a genre in which life---or at least some aspect of life---is depicted in
an ‘unnatural’ (ugh) and highly imaginative manner. The problematic word
‘unnatural’ does not mean ‘unrealistic’ or ‘supernatural’ (whatever that means), but, in fantasies,
imagination, wonder and fancy all play very important roles.

Now, most fairy tales are not about 'fairies' at
all, although as TheosophistJohn Algeo has pointed out they are very much
about faerie. The latter has two
meanings: first, the land of fairies,
and second, enchantment. The second meaning is more applicable.

Perhaps the most important thing
about fairy tales, apart from the sheer enjoyment that comes from reading or
listening to them, or watching them on film, is this---fairy tales are mythological in nature, and their inner
or more esoteric meaning is cloaked in allegory, parable and symbolism. Nearly
all fairy tales are encoded spiritual and moral lessons (‘road maps’) of great
importance---just like the parables of Jesus in the New Testament---and they almost invariably incorporate more than a
few fragments (‘gems’) of the Ancient Wisdom, with the spiritual ideas and
themes being portrayed in a highly figurative and literary manner. On the
surface, or exterior, they largely present as stories for children---Kinder und Hausmärchen (‘Children’s and Household Tales’), in the
words of the Brothers Grimm---but their inner or ‘true’ significance is hidden
(that is, ‘occult’).

If there is
one theme or underlying message contained in the great religions of the world
it is this---we come from God (the ‘Great I AM’), we belong to God, we are
never truly separate from God, and we are all on our way back to God. Of
course, not all the world’s religions use the word ‘God,’ or express this idea
theistically, but that is largely immaterial. The idea is still there. Fairy
tales graphically depict the Platonic/Neoplatonic---and theosophical---idea of
involution and evolution of the soul, or, in the language of the great American
mythographer Joseph Campbell, the 'hero's journey' of self-discovery through
trial, tribulation and adversity.

Now, most of
you will be familiar with the fairy tale ‘Hansel and Gretel.’ The story goes
like this. Near
a forest a woodcutter lives with his wife and his two children, Hansel and
Gretel. The children’s mother has died, the woodcutter’s wife being their
stepmother. They are all very poor---indeed, they were starving, so the two
children go out in search of food. Actually, it is the stepmother who suggests
that they take the two children out into the forest and lose them. Hansel, the
boy, overhears the plan, and collects pebbles, so that he can lay a trail to
find his way back. He is successful in so doing. For the second ‘trip’ the two children
take with them one slice of bread along, which they use to mark a path back to
their home by leaving crumbs along the way, but the crumbs are eaten by the
birds, with the result that the two children find themselves lost in the
forest. After a while, they come upon a little house made of gingerbread---as a
result of the assistance of a white bird who guides the children to the house. (Some
wonderful symbolism, there!) Hansel breaks off a piece to eat.

Suddenly, the door
flies open and an old woman (‘witch’) comes out and invites them in. She feeds
them mountains of pancakes and fruit, and then tucks them into bed to sleep. (Note
that word---‘sleep.’) What Hansel and Gretel don’t realise is the old woman is
fattening them up so she can use them in her favourite dish---‘roasted child.’
Now the two children are prisoners---Hansel is put into a stable---and the old
woman keeps feeding them. However, when she asks Hansel to put his finger
through the bars of the stable to see how fat he is getting, Hansel holds out a
piece of dry bone instead.

Finally, the children
escape and push the old woman into the oven. The house dissolves into pearls
and precious stones. (Again, wonderful symbolism, there.) The two children fill
their pockets with jewels and food and use the trail of bread crumbs to find
their way back home. They come to a great expanse of water---and a white duck
carries them over it. (Again, wonderful symbolism, there.) Eventually, on the
other side, they recognize their surroundings and return rich to their father’s
house. Their father welcomes them home, and informs them that their stepmother
has died in the meantime. (Wonderful! Note, some commentators suggest that the
stepmother and the witch are at least metaphorically one-and-the-same person,
because the stepmother dies when the children have killed the witch. Maybe.) They
all live happily ever after.

Well, what a great story
of involution and evolution! The woodcutter’s house is the spiritual or divine
world or realm from which we all come, and to which we all ultimately return.
The presence in the story of the stepmother----notice how in fairy tales these
stepmothers are never nice---indicates, symbolically, that we have here a
material existence into which the human soul (Gretel) and the human spirit
(Hansel) have descended. (Note. In ancient symobology the ‘soul’ [that is, the
mind including the spiritual or divine 'image' in
the mind of our creation and perfectibility)is always female,
and the human ‘spirit’ [or ‘life force’] in us is always masculine. That’s just
the way it is.) We have the descent into a physical body, and later the ascent
again to the spiritual or divine realm---the source from which we all come and
to which we all eventually return. We see that so often in fairy tales as well
as other secret or sacred literature. We have a white bird---a clear sign of
divine guidance (cf the Holy Spirit). The gingerbread house looks so lovely,
you want to eat it. The gingerbread house is like the land of Oz (cf The Wizard of Oz), that is,
that strange, colourful, wonderful, yet also frightening, world in which we now
find ourselves, but it is not the ‘real’ world. It is not our ‘true’ home.

Anyway, soul and
spirit enter the physical body---the gingerbread house---but, like us, they experience
it (that is, life on earth) as a veritable prison-house in which bad things can
and do happen. (Isn’t that life?) Yes, we are in slavery, in bondage, and
largely to our false selves which we mistakenly take to be the ‘real’ person
each of us is. The old woman, or witch, symbolically represents all those
negative, retarding forces that seek to overwhelm, indeed destroy, the human
spirit (Hansel). Things like addictions, bad habits, obsessions, compulsions,
and attachments and cravings of all kinds. Notice, too, the symbol of the dry
bone, which represents all those negative forces that are blind to our true
spirit. I think the dry bone especially symbolizes dry, intellectuality, that
is forever incapable of discerning or knowing spiritual truths. I firmly
espouse the use of reason in solving human problems, but there is something
terribly sad and inadequate about dry reason and intellectuality without
spiritual wisdom. The fire, and its lighting, symbolically represents some
special event or impulse in which the soul awakens---and finds freedom.
Spiritual riches---precious stones and jewels---are ours, but first we must
cross the Great Water (that is, death). Soul and spirit are carried across the
water, and on the far side there is---home.

The ‘message’ of Hansel
and Gretel? Seek only what is truly real. See through illusion and delusion.
Stay awake. Press on---no matter what happens to you. You will get ‘there’ in
the end—no matter how far you stray from the ‘path.’

Note. For those who may be interested, here is a recent
address of mine on fairy tales and their ‘inner’ meaning.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Deep
down, we all crave peace of mind. Call it serenity, tranquillity, equanimity, or
imperturbability, we certainly know
when we don’t have it. Wanting to be happy all the time is, well, silly, and
quite superficial, but peace of mind is an altogether different thing.

This
verse from the Hebrew Bible contains a valuable formula for obtaining, and
maintaining (‘keeping’), peace of mind. It says that God will keep us in
perfect peace if our mind is ‘stayed’ on God.

Who
or what is this God? Some theological construct? A person, albeit a supra-normal
(whatever that means) one? No, not at all. I know many, many people who call
themselves atheists---and that they are, at least when one applies traditional
theistic definitions of ‘God’---who have perfect peace. They know God, even
though they choose not to use that term---and that is their prerogative.

The
word ‘God’ is not the 'thing,' rather it directs us to the reality to which the word 'God' refers. What is that reality, I hear you ask? Well, this is it---God is simply a word that
some people choose to use (and others choose not to use) to refer to the medium in which all things live, move,
and have their being. Time and space---spacetime, to be more correct---are other
words that refer to more-or-less the same 'thing.' They, too, are mediums---or
rather the medium---in which all things exist and subsist. No wonder mystics
have referred to God as the Eternal Now. Yes, God is the All in all. God is not
a ‘thing,’ nor a ‘person,’ as we ordinarily use those words. Got that? God is not a
thing, but rather ‘No-Thing’ or ‘No-Thing-ness.’

Now,
some or all of the foregoing may be hard to understand but, when you think
about it, it makes much more sense than believing in a so-called personal God.
Actually, the God to which I refer is both personal and impersonal. It is impersonal
in the sense of being general, universal, all-embracing, non-discriminating, and infinite, but it ‘becomes’---for
want of a better word---personal in
and as you and me and all other
persons and things as well as being personal to all who are at-one with its indwelling presence, power, and activity.

So
many people have a terrible concept of God---anything but the truth. The true
nature of the divine, as pure and ever-perfect Be-ing, is revealed in these Bible verses
from the third chapter of the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible:

13Then
Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of
Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they
say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?’

14And
God said to Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the
children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’’

The words 'I
AM' refer to thesubject---note that word, 'subject,' not object---of all existence. The Bible saysthat I AM is God. So, God (that is, the
very essence and being-ness of life itself) becomes what God has said that
which God is---'I AM THAT I AM.' That is the name by which God is called---at
least in the Hebrew Bible and in metaphysics---and it describes the Presence or Power of God (being the spiritual or divine 'image' of each person's creation) declaring Itself---to Itself. This is the Self-knowingness of God, and we, too, can be conscious (or rather self-conscious) of that very same I AM Presence and Power that is the ground of our being, indeed, the ground of all Be-ing. It is the All-in-all.

Yes, God---pure Be-ing or existence--is
the one form-less, essence-less, self-existent, self-knowing, self-giving, absolute, indestructible, and abundant existence that forever takes form, that is, incarnates, as you, me, and
everything else, but which is never even for a moment absorbed by the innumerable objects of its Self-expression. In other words, God---if you choose to use the word at all---is thelifethat is thesubjectof true existence, the very life that
lies within, and otherwise manifests itself through and as objects, being all persons and things---the
very livingness, or rather Self-livingness, of life itself. Put perhaps more simply, you are I AM in expression---as you. In the words of the renowned Unity minister and author Eric Butterworth, you are an 'eachness' within the ALL-ness of God. Yes, 'Thou art That.' Whether or not you are aware of it, you are divine and one with this 'God-ness,' being the point---and just one of an infinite number of such points---at which the Great I AM reproduces and experiences Itself. Amazing!

Back to our Bible text. What is meant
by the word ‘perfect,’ in the expression ‘perfect peace’? Well, peace is
perfect when it is true, real, and substantial, as opposed to being false or
insubstantial. Material things, and even intangible things such as status and reputation,
are false and insubstantial because they are ‘grounded’—actually, they are not
even ‘grounded’ in any real sense---in our false selves that clamour for
attention and the approval of others. Peace is ‘perfect’ when it is grounded in
the eternal and infinite; this peace is imperturbable, for it subsists at all
times and under all events. The great Swami Vivekananda described this state of mind as 'eternal calmness which cannot be ruffled, the balance of mind which is never disturbed, whatever happens.'

Now, if you
want perfect peace in your mind, then keep your mind ‘stayed’ in the Eternal
Now, that is, in the medium in which all things live, move, and have their
being. Keep your mind grounded in the consciousness of the moment, from one
moment to the next. For me, mindfulness is the best form of prayer and meditation. It is the
primary means by which I stay grounded in the Eternal Now---God, if you like.
You don't need to believe in someone else’s concept of God---not even mine,
for heaven’s sake. You don't need to use the word God, or think in theistic terms, at all. All you have to do is to stay mindfully aware of, and alert to, the content (both internal and external) of the present moment at all times or at least as
much and as often as you can. Angels---assuming there are any---can do no
better. And how do you know when you are living mindfully? The answer is simple---you are living mindfully when you are no longer fretting about or fighting the past, or fearing the future. You are able to accept, with calm contentment and total equanimity, whatever is. Perfect peace, just like perfect love, drives out all fear, anxiety, anger, and resentment (cf 1 Jn 4:18). Indeed, there is simply no room in a mindset of perfect peace for any negative thoughts or emotions.

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